Doing Our Job (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
by ilna
Summary: Steve and Catherine are able to get away for a little while to join Angie for storytime.


**Notes:** Thanks to Mari and Sammy for bouncing ideas and for their fabulous feedback. You're the best, ladies!

Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! It is always appreciated.

Special happy birthday to the real Miss Kristin!

 **Hope you enjoy!**

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 _Doing Our Job (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)_

"Mama!" Angie's excited voice called when she spotted Catherine and Steve approaching the play area in the library. "Dada!"

Clutching a LEGO block in each hand, she ran toward her parents, arms outstretched.

"Hi, honey," Catherine said more quietly. She put a finger to her lips as Steve scooped the toddler up. "Shh shh shh, remember this is the library."

"Shh shh shh," Angie imitated, much louder than her mother had, then grinned at them.

Chuckling, Steve kissed her cheek and Catherine gave her back a little rub in greeting.

"We don't do quite as much shushing in the library anymore," a familiar voice said from behind them. They turned to see the librarian, Miss Kristin, smiling warmly. "Especially on storytime mornings."

"Buh buh!" Angie squealed excitedly, pointing to the large yellow tube of bubbles Miss Kristin held.

"Are you ready to pop some bubbles, Angie?" the librarian asked. "I'm going to open up the program room for storytime."

Angie watched as Kristin headed for the program room door. She pointed after her. "Buh buh! Dada go!"

"Let's say goodbye to Esther first," Catherine said as their stalwart nanny, dog-sitter, and friend joined them.

"Ehsa!" Angie said, smiling at one of her very favorite people in the world.

"Hey, cutie," Esther said, returning the smile wholeheartedly. She held out her hands. "Can I have those blocks so I can put them back at the table for other kids to play with?"

Angie dutifully dropped the blocks into Esther's outstretched hands.

"Thank you!" Esther said enthusiastically, and Angie smiled brightly. Esther looked at Steve and Catherine. "I'm glad you two were able to come. I know you said earlier there was a chance it wouldn't work out today because of the case."

Steve nodded. "We weren't sure if it would, but Danny's covering HQ while Chin and Kono are running down a lead on the other side of the island so we took the chance to run over while we could."

"Well, I know Angie loves storytime even more when it's with her parents, so I'm glad you could." She hefted her laptop case higher on her shoulder and handed Angie's small bag to Catherine. "I'm just going to be in the cafe area today going through some emails from my writer's group. I'll come join you during playtime in case you have to head out."

"Thanks, Esther," Catherine said, smiling gratefully as Steve nodded his own thanks.

"Of course." She gave Angie a little wave. "Bye-bye, Angie. I'll see you in a little bit."

Angie waved back. "Bye-bye!"

The little family headed for the program room, leaving Esther to return the LEGO blocks and make her way to the cafe.

Miss Kristin was already blowing bubbles for the gathered children on the brightly colored storytime rug. Angie squealed and immediately squirmed to be let down.

"Buh buh, buh buh!" she cried, running right for the group, arms up and fingers spread to try and catch the bubbles as they floated down.

There were several taller kids who were able to pop most of the bubbles above the heads of the others. Parents and caregivers gently admonished them to let the smaller children have a chance.

Angie reached for a large bubble, giggling when it popped on her fingers. She looked around to find her parents who were settling on the floor by the semi-circle of chairs.

"Good job, Angie," Catherine said.

"Get another one," Steve called out.

Beaming, Angie looked to Miss Kristin, hoping for more bubbles and she wasn't disappointed.

After a few more minutes of bubble-blowing, the librarian announced the start of storytime. Catherine held out her arms for Angie who barrelled into her excitedly. She didn't stay in her mother's lap for long. As soon as she recognized the start of the welcome song, she pushed herself up and threw both arms in the air enthusiastically, stretching up high as Miss Kristin did. She looked back to see if her parents were doing the same. While Catherine had her hands up, Steve sat with his arms at his sides and Angie frowned at him.

"Dada," she said firmly, and he lifted his arms in the air, smiling when Angie's expression immediately changed to a broad grin.

When Angie looked back at Miss Kristin, Catherine nudged Steve's elbow with her own and mouthed, "Wrapped."

He leaned over to whisper. "I notice your arms are up, too, Lieutenant."

"Yeah, but I always participate," she whispered back.

He grinned wryly and the followed along as Kristin and several other adults continued to sing.

" _One, two, three, let's jump up tall!_ " they finished, and Catherine grabbed Angie to lift her up in the air, much to the toddler's delight.

They repeated the welcome song and as Kristin launched in the next rhyme, Angie decided to climb into the empty chair behind her parents. Once she got up, she pulled on the back of the chair in order to stand.

"Ah ah ah," Steve said, guiding her back down. "We sit in chairs."

" _This is the way we tap our toes, tap our toes, tap our toes,_ " Kristin sang, never fazed by the antics of the energetic crew around her.

"Tap your toes, Angie," Catherine encouraged, smiling when Angie lifted one leg slightly off the chair followed by the other like the librarian was doing with the large stuffed bear in her lap.

" _This is the way we tap our toes, early in the morning._ "

They went through the next two verses and Angie's interest in sitting in the chair disappeared. She turned around and slid back to the ground, running around to plop in Catherine's lap. Smiling, Catherine took her hands to lead her through the motions of the next song.

" _Open, shut them, open, shut them, give a little clap clap clap,_ " they sang. " _Open, shut them, open, shut them, put them in your lap, lap, lap._ "

After repeating the song again, Kristin stood. "Okay, are we ready for our first book?" She exchanged her stuffed bear for a book from the table behind her. "Today we have _Peek-a-Who?_ This is a fun guessing book with great illustrations." Retaking her seat, she opened to the first page of the triangular shaped board book.

Angie snuggled back against Catherine as she so often did when they read books at home. Steve smiled at them, his gaze remaining there even as Kristin began to read.

" 'Who says Woof Woof?' " she read. She looked around the semi-circle. "Who says Woof Woof? Does anyone know?"

"Doggie!" one of the older children cried.

"Who says Woof Woof, Angie?" Catherine said, leaning down to speak by her ear.

"Caa-mmie!"

Catherine beamed, hugging her. "That's right, smart girl."

Steve grinned proudly.

"A doggie, yes," Kristin said, opening to two flaps of the board book to reveal a drawing of a dog.

"Caa-mmie!" Angie said again, pointing at the picture.

"That does look a little bit like Cammie," Catherine said.

Miss Kristin continued to read the book, the older children able to match many of the sounds to the correct animals. When she was finished, she clapped enthusiastically. "Great listeners!"

Angie clapped in response, as did most of the rest of the participants.

"Let's try something fun with one of the animals we saw in our book," Kristin said. "I have a big pink pig here." She held up the puppet, smiling as several kids immediately approached. "Listen to this rhyme," she said. "Hickory dickory dare. The pig flew up in the air." She threw the pig up with a "Wooooooo!" and caught it with a broad smile, looking around at the excited faces. "Farmer Brown soon brought her down. Hickory dickory dare."

"Me!" a young boy cried, reaching for the pig.

Miss Kristin smiled. "I thought we could all take a turn throwing the pig in the air. And adults, we're going to help our younger kiddos when it's their turn and give every child a clap for a job well done, okay?" She looked at the eager boy in the front who was still reaching for the pig. "Isaac, do you want to go first?"

Miss Kristin patiently encouraged each child to throw the pig puppet up in the air, some helped by their caregiver, and after each child tried, the adults clapped and congratulated them, no matter the result of their attempt.

When it was Angie's turn, Steve said, "Throw it, Angie," motioning with both hands.

"Come on, baby girl," Catherine said, smiling encouragingly.

Angie tossed the pig and it landed about a foot in front of her.

"Yay!" everyone cheered, and she beamed happily at the praise, reaching for pig.

"Just one turn, honey," Catherine said.

"Let's let Leo have a chance," Miss Kristin said.

Angie watched as the toddler standing near her took his own turn to throw the pig. When the adults clapped afterward, Angie joined in.

After every child who wanted a turn got their chance, Miss Kristin said, "Okay, one more time. Hickory dickory dare. The pig flew up in the air. Wooooooo! Farmer Brown soon brought her down. Hickory dickory dare." She smiled at the group. "Great job, everyone!"

They moved on to a couple more songs before Miss Kristin pulled out another book.

"This one is going to be a lot of fun, I think," she said. "It's called _Hi-Five Animals!_ and we're going to see if we can practice some more turn-taking as we give these cute animals hi-fives, okay? It's a big group, but we'll see how this goes."

"Oh, I bet Jacob would have loved this book, Angie," Catherine said, guiding Angie back to her lap.

"Kay-cup?" Angie asked, looking around as if he might appear.

"Jacob used to love giving hi-fives," Steve said. "Still kinda does, though not as much as he used to."

"And he taught you to hi-five right out there in the play area," Catherine said.

"Okay, first up is the crocodile," Miss Kristin said, opening up the brightly colored board book. "Let's hi-five the crocodile." She walked over to the first child in the semi-circle and held the book at her level. "Can you give the crocodile a hi-five?" she asked, pointing to the large illustration of the anthropomorphized crocodile holding up a hand.

The little girl looked uncertain until Kristin tapped the book herself. "Hi-five!" she said. "Now you try."

"Go ahead, Jewel," her mother coaxed.

Jewel pressed her hand to the illustration and Miss Kristin smiled broadly. "Good job!" She stepped over to the next child. "Do you want to try next?"

She continued around the circle, turning the page every few steps to introduce another animal. The children got to hi-five a lion, owl, elephant, skunk, shark, moose, penguin, polar bear, monkey, and octopus.

They were on the shark page when it was Angie's turn. Having watched the other kids, she was ready and smacked her hand against the book in the general area of the shark's raised fin. She beamed at the cheers from her parents and others around her, hitting the book again for an extra hi-five.

"Great job, honey," Catherine said, cuddling her.

"Jacob would have been proud," Steve said with a smile.

Storytime wrapped up with a few more songs and then Miss Kristin brought out an assortment of toys, distributing them around the room to encourage plenty of movement and exploration.

Angie ran toward the large easel with a magnetic board. She stopped halfway there and turned around to run back to her parents.

"Mama, Dada, go!" she said, patting their legs and pointing to indicate she wanted them to come with her. "Go bee no mah!"

"All right, honey, we're coming," Catherine said, smiling at her insistence.

They joined her at the easel where another girl was already taking magnetic letters from a small tub and putting them up on the board. Angie picked up a letter and stuck it face first on the easel. It slid down and landed on the carpet.

"Other way, Angie," Steve said. "Try again."

She picked it back up and when she went to put it on the easel again, he said, "Turn it over so the magnet part is on the board."

She banged it on the board a few times in frustration that it wouldn't stay put.

"Turn it over," he said again.

She flipped the letter and beamed when it stayed in place.

"Good job," Catherine said.

Angie clapped happily and grabbed another letter. This time when it wouldn't stay, she turned it over herself the right way.

"There you go, Angie," Steve said. "You got it."

"Bee moh nah," she said and pointed at the letters. "See."

"We see," Catherine said. "Good job."

Angie put a few more letters on the board and then handed some to Steve and Catherine.

"Go bee," she told them, pointing. "Mama."

"You want Mommy and Daddy to do it?" Catherine asked, and she and Steve put the letters Angie had given them on the board. She pointed to one. "Look, this is an A, honey. A for Angie."

Angie touched it, giggling when it slid down an inch when she did. She pushed it around the board.

The other girl reached into the tub and held out a letter to Angie.

"Look, honey, she's sharing with you," Catherine said.

"Good job, Bella," said the older woman with her.

Angie took the letter and put it on the board.

"Angie, can you say hi to Bella?" Catherine asked.

Angie waved and smiled. "Hi!"

Bella's smile in response was shy, but she reached into the tub for another letter and gave it to Angie who in turn put it on the board.

"How old is she?" Catherine asked the woman.

"She just turned two. Yours?"

"Eighteen months," Catherine replied.

"Eighteen and a half," Steve added, smiling, and Catherine chuckled at his specificity.

"I'm Marina," the woman said. "Bella is my first granddaughter. I moved to the island a few months ago to be closer to her."

"I'm Catherine, this is Steve," Catherine introduced them. "It's wonderful you could move here. My parents did the same when Angie was born."

Angie reached over to pull Bella's headband off and drop it to the carpet.

"Angie," Catherine said reproachfully. She apologized quickly to Bella and Marina and looked back at her daughter, picking up the headband. "That's Bella's pretty headband. Just because you don't like them, you shouldn't take them off other people. Can you give this back to her?"

Angie took the headband and held it out to Bella. The other girl took it back and with a small smile, tossed it onto the carpet, causing both girls to giggle. Laughing, they began picking it up and throwing it back down.

"And we've got a new game," Steve said, shaking his head in amusement.

"Looks like someone made a new friend," came a voice behind them. They looked up to see Esther coming to join them. She knelt down with the little group.

"Ehsa!" Angie said. She pointed to Bella. "Ah me nah. See."

"This is Bella and her grandmother Marina," Catherine said. "This is our friend and Angie's nanny Esther."

"Nice to meet you," Esther said warmly. "I know I've see you at storytime before."

"Nice to meet you, too."

As the two girls went back to trying to fit every magnetic letter on the board, Steve's phone buzzed. He read the message and nodded at Catherine.

"We've gotta go," he said.

"Okay," she said. She put a hand on Angie's back. "Angie, Mommy and Daddy are going back to work."

Angie looked at them, her brow furrowing. "Go?"

"We have to go, but you're going to stay here and play with Esther and Bella and Ms. Marina, okay?"

Angie smiled brightly at hearing she could keep playing.

"You work together?" Marina asked. "That's so nice."

"We don't work together all the time," Catherine said. "But right now we do." She looked back at Angie. "Can you give Mommy and Daddy a kiss goodbye?"

Angie launched herself at Catherine, giggling and pecking her on the cheek.

"Mmm, love you, baby girl," Catherine said, hugging her. "Have fun." She let go and motioned to Steve. "How about Daddy?"

"Dada," Angie said, hugging him next.

"Bye, Angie," he said, kissing her head. "I love you."

With a final hug, he stood along with Catherine. "Nice to meet you," he said to Marina.

Catherine nodded her agreement. "Bye, Bella," she said. Bella gave her a little wave in response.

"We'll see you later," Esther said. "And like I said this morning, I can stay as late as you need. Just let me know."

"Thanks, Esther," Catherine said, touching her shoulder gratefully. She smiled one more time at Angie. "Have fun with your new friends, honey. We'll see you tonight."

After another wave, Steve and Catherine headed for the door. Angie stepped closer to Esther, watching them go.

"Mama," she said quietly. "Dada."

"They have important work to do, honey," Esther told her, rubbing her back soothingly. "But nothing is more important than you, that's why they came for storytime. And you know what? The quicker they get back to work, the quicker they'll solve this case, right?"

Angie looked at her and smiled at Esther's reassuring expression.

"Ah see mo nah," she said.

Esther smiled. "That's right. So while they do their job, let's do our job, okay? Let's learn and play."

Angie's smile grew at one of her favorite words.

"Yay!"

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 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Books:**

 _Peek-A-Who?_ by Elsa Mroziewicz (Minedition, 2018)

 _Hi-Five Animals!_ by Ross Burach (Scholastic Press, 2018)

 _Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll_

 _Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net_

 _Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com_

 _You can still join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with Add me, please! in the subject line._

 _And find Mari on Twitter asking your opinions on all things McRoll in the REAL World! at Mari21763 and add #REALMcRoller_


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